Susquehanna River flood forecasting gets boost from Washington

A Washington decision restoring federal funding for the first time since 1998 to Susquehanna River Basin Commission will help preserve a network of stream and rain gauges that provide real-time flood forecasting information.

"This allows us to maintain what we have and continue to make improvements," commission Executive Director Paul Swartz said of $1 million in fiscal year 2009 funds announced today at commission headquarters in Harrisburg by U.S. Rep. Tim Holden, D-Schuylkill County.

Swartz said the money will help the commission come up with a permanent fix to provide funding for the gauges. He said the commission "begged" the state for money to keep the gauges going after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ran out of money to do so on Oct. 1. Swartz said that the commission in recent years has depended on grants for 60 percent of its funding, with the rest coming from Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York.

The federal government is part of the commission but until now had not provided any dedicated funding since 1998, when Swartz said Congress decided that the commission was of more benefit to the states than to the federal government - a position with which Swartz disagreed.

Swartz said while the commission has been grateful for the grant funding, the money could only be applied to specific purposes, whereas the $1 million appropriated from Congress can be used more broadly.

Swartz said that besides flood forecasting the commission will dedicate the federal money toward protecting public water supplies and managing the amount of water being drawn from the Susquehanna River for various purposes.